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INSIGHTS AND INSPIRATION FOR THE RETAIL BAKING COMMUNITY

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Craft to Crumb is published by Avant Food Media, 1703 Wyandotte St., Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64108.

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FE ATURE D BAKE RY: Moxie Bread Co.

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COV E R : Community and clean ingredients are at the core of Moxie Bread Co.’s thriving bakery. Photo by Olivia Siddall | Avant Food Media

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Craft to Crumb A Note From The Editor

ON THE RISE As we close out the year, my reflections on Craft to Crumb warm my heart. This issue’s featured bakery — Moxie Bread in Louisville, CO — is one our team’s had an eye on since we launched in 2023. So, when we had a chance to head west for the visit, we didn’t hesitate. Just like how much has changed for us in the past two years, Moxie has greatly evolved since its flagship opened in 2015. Not only has it opened its own 501(c)(3) stone mill, but it also launched two more locations and gained B Corp Certification, none of which is any small feat. This bakery’s growth hits home on several levels. It’s amazing to see bakers do what they do — create p roducts with intention and love — and do it while overcoming obstacles and uplifting their community along the way. These are the stories we love to tell so that you, our readers, can find insight and inspiration for your own bakery business. It also inspires us all about what’s possible.

JOANIE SPENCER E d i t o r- i n - C h i e f joanie@avantfoodmedia.com

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The more we learn about retail and artisan baking, the more we can deliver. In this issue, you’ll get step-by-step cookie cake design tips, learn about the business side of teaching classes and discover a nationwide snapshot of bakers doing good. (Not to mention all things Moxie!) But we’re not finished … not by a long shot. After this mini-mag, you won’t wait long for the next one. Craft to Crumb is expanding to six issues in 2026, bringing you more content, starting with the next mini in January, and two special editions highlighting hot spots around the country. We’re on the rise here. What about you? Let us know how you’re evolving your bakery or your business. We’d love to share the journey.

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DUBAI CHOCOLATE DOMINATION

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Inspired by the viral confectionery creation, bakeries are infusing the mix of chocolate, pistachio-tahini and kataifi into their pastry cases. Brownies, cookies, coffee cake and cinnamon rolls are popular bases for this trend-forward treat.

Cherries add a rich crimson coloring and juicy, tangy flavor to an assortment of sweet baked goods ranging from Swiss rolls and galettes to pies, brioche, tarts, decadent layered cakes and beyond.

Photo courtesy of Bread Alone Bakery

Photo courtesy of Dune Bakery

A TASTE OF TIRAMISU

SEEDS ON SEEDS ON SEEDS

The combination of espresso, mascarpone, ladyfingers and cocoa is having a moment. Beyond the dessert’s signature format, the flavor fusion is taking shape in donuts, brownies and Danish.

Seeds such as sesame, sunflower, hemp and poppy can add a pop of visual appeal. They also lend a unique taste and consumer-desired health attributes to artisan-style breads and pastries.

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Craft to Crumb Seasonal Spotlight | Color Trends

COLORFUL

COMFORT Colors are trending toward moments of joy. BY CINDY ARORA

When a customer stands in front of a pastry case, they aren’t necessarily just looking for something to go with their latte. Sometimes it’s the swirl of mint green buttercream on a cupcake, the playfulness of sprinkles on an orange-frosted toaster pastry or the peek-a-boo of chocolate coming through a buttery croissant. It’s no surprise that food, especially baked goods, can give people a moment of joy, comfort, or even a feeling of control in the middle of an otherwise busy day.

Resilience, comfort and wellness — feelings consumers are seeking in today’s climate — are the top emotions connected to colors, according to the report. For bakers, dessert as a conduit to comfort comes as no surprise, but complementing comfort with color has become a tool for developing new products or giving old favorites a fresh look and feel. Photo courtesy of Ayu Bakehouse

ADM’s 2026 “Flavor and Color Outlook” trend report debuted an artist-inspired color palette meant to energize bakers planning their pastry calendars for the year ahead. Think roasted peach, buttercream yellow, sweet mint, juniper green, berries (blue and raspberry), purple grape jelly and apple red.

The report found that food no longer satisfies just hunger. Customers seek flavorful baked goods for comfort, to escape and to enjoy … they want to remember what delight tastes like.

The merging of textures and colors, while having fun with flavors, is how many bakers can create menus that entice people who eat with their eyes. Kelly Jacques, co-owner and chef at Ayu Bakehouse in New Orleans, is a believer in that adage.

Craft to Crumb Seasonal Spotlight | Color Trends

The modern bakery along bustling Frenchmen Street has made a name for itself from an exciting menu that captures colors, culture and texture, including its warm chocolate babka knots, pandan- infused kaya buns and bright guava passion fruit tarts. “We think a lot about the experience of someone walking into our bakery and how their eyes will float around to the different products,” Kelly said. “Baked goods are mostly shades of brown, so we try to mix things up with different toppings and garnishes and thoughtful arrangements in the case.”

According to ADM, this year’s color and flavor profiles can lend themselves to merging berries with botanicals, pairing tropical fruits with citrus, exploring childhood favorites and giving them an all-new colorful take. “While food dyes open up possibilities, we definitely prefer to create colors naturally by using colorful ingredients like satsuma juice in our Satsuma Creamsicle Tartlet, passion fruit puree in our Passion Fruit and Black Sesame Danish, and even pops of pink watermelon radish and green snap beans on our Frenchmen Sandwich,” Kelly

INTRODUCING THE COLOR OF THE YEAR Drumroll, please … The 2026 Pantone Color of the Year is Cloud Dancer. Known for its iconic color matching system, Pantone names its Color of the Year every December. While Pantone suggests pairing Cloud Dancer with pastels and neutrals, bakers should consider how bright tones would pop against this dreamy color.

At Loretta’s in Philadelphia, a bright red door welcomes customers into a cafe known for its coffee but that’s quickly making a name for its unique pastry program. “Color is an imperative tool for pastry chefs,” said Kelsey Bush, owner of Loretta’s. “Not only do they get to create beautiful-tasting items, but they also get to use color to entice customers to pick their perfect dessert.” At Loretta’s, the rotating menu features everything from apple pie toaster pastries with green sprinkles to pecan pie croissants made with a touch of orange marmalade and topped with salted caramel drizzle. “We deal with a lot of browns and neutrals with pastry, so we love to use colors in glazes, frostings, dried fruits and sprinkles,” Kelsey said. “We use colors all the time to make people feel warm and happy.”

Photo courtesy of Pantone

added. “This way, you get both color and flavor to back it up.”

Adding a touch of color doesn’t require major recipe changes; bakers can bring in new hues with tinted glazes, vibrant curds, seasonal fruit garnishes or naturally colorful ingredients like beet, matcha, or freeze-dried berries and fruit. For bakers, turning to this year’s color palette allows them to have fun with trends while also inspiring customers in search of joy in a pastry case.

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Craft to Crumb Featured Bakery | Moxie Bread Co.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Moxie Bread Co. stays focused on community, clean food and cherishing the environment. BY MARI RYDINGS

When customers cross the threshold of Moxie Bread Co.’s flagship location, a historic 19th century home in downtown Louisville, CO, the significance of the bakery’s name probably isn’t top of mind. After all, they’re there for bread, pastries, coffee and community. But could there be a more perfect name for a bakery? The word “moxie” epitomizes the very essence of bakers: courage, resilience, hard work, perseverance, guts, heart. Believe it or not, the name came about in a last-minute, off-the-cuff sort of way, but it aptly defines how the bakery got to where it is today, as a newly minted Certified B Corp with three locations supplied by a 5,000-square-foot commissary kitchen. Moxie began as a neighborhood bakery, serving Europeanstyle, from-scratch baked goods to locals. While community and clean food were always at the core, the bakery has focused its 10 years in business on becoming a force for good in every way, supporting local farms and businesses, educating consumers about heirloom grains and regenerative agriculture, and finding ways to weave sustainability into nearly every aspect of its operations.

All photos by Olivia Siddall | Avant Food Media

WATCH NOW

Get an exclusive look behind the bake at Moxie Bread Co. 15

Craft to Crumb Moxie Bread Co.

About those heirloom grains … Moxie is known for using more than 10 different varieties of 100% heirloom grains — sourced from family farms in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota — in its baked goods. “We didn’t start the business with heirloom grains,” said Phillippa (Pippa) Clark, who, along with her late husband, Andy, opened Moxie in 2015. “Andy was a master baker, and we were both passionate about organic, clean-ingredient food. He was really passionate about bread and baked goods, but bread especially … it was his heart. We started to get plugged in with local farmers and learn more about farming and made the switch to be an heirloom bakery a few years after opening.” When the Clarks opened a second location, the Moxie Feed + Seed in North Boulder, CO, they saw an opportunity to expand their support of local restaurants and bakeries by offering on-site flour milling. They opened The Mill Site, a non-profit 501(c)(3) wholesale stone mill, next door to the new storefront. “The idea behind opening the mill was to have it be a community place where people could mill their own grains,” Pippa said. “The community aspect was — and still is — the intention. We’re always thinking about how to help grow the communities we serve in different ways, and milling was just another avenue for that.”

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WATCH NOW: By the end of 2021, Moxie had added a third location: the Moxie Mercantile in Lyons, CO. Between grinding grains to supply flour to Moxie’s bakers, local businesses and store customers interested in using freshly milled flour at home, the original milling equipment was struggling to keep up with demand. The Clarks invested in a New A merican Stone Mills mill with a 48-inch stone and a hopper that can hold up to 400 pounds of grain. “We added the new mill in 2022 with the goal of increasing production,” explained Carlos Castro, the mill manager at Moxie. “The larger, heavier stone can handle a lot more grain and mill it a lot finer while retaining all the nutrients in the right proportions and percentages that are also in nature.” Even though Moxie was growing, bakery production remained centralized at the Louisville location. Capacity was at a premium,

Carlos Castro highlights how investing in a larger stone mill has benefited the community.

and the logistics of getting fresh inventory to three different locations were complex. “Every day, our bakers were standing shoulder-to-shoulder making bread, pastries and sandwiches,” Pippa recalled. “The pastry equipment was in a tiny former bedroom. We couldn’t produce fast enough and kept running out. Eventually, we moved the pastry equipment to North Boulder, so we were making pastries in North Boulder and kitchen items and bread in Louisville. It made sense to find somewhere right in the middle of our locations and put everything together.” Moxie moved into a 5,000-squarefoot commissary kitchen in Longmont, CO, in January. The bigger space has given everyone some breathing room and increased production by 20%. The next step will be to relocate the milling equipment from North Boulder to

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Craft to Crumb Moxie Bread Co.

LISTEN NOW Harra Conticelli shares why balancing creativity and production is important to the bottom line.

a dedicated space in the centralized facility by year’s end. “It was a really big move for us,” Pippa said. “Now we can make more bread and pastries and have a better working area for the team and some excess space.” The team is split fairly evenly between pastry, kitchen and bread, with each area staffed by five or six people. Staggered shifts create a seamless workflow that ensures everyone has access to the equipment they need, when they need it. The overlapping schedules promote teamwork, create opportunities for cross-training and give employees a glimpse into different projects in the works. It also means there’s always someone around to lend a hand when needed. Bread manager Amanda Choe and her team arrive between 11 p.m. and midnight to start their bake, pulling loaves of California Farmhaus mild sourdough, San Francisco-style sourdough, baguettes, seeded varieties, gluten-free, spelt and challah that were mixed, shaped, weighed and proofed earlier in the day.

“We produce between 200 and 400 loaves a day, depending on the day,” said Laura Fessenden, director of operations. “Opening the Longmont facility opened up opportunities for us to introduce Moxie to a new community. In addition to baking for our stores, we also bake for the Boulder County Farmers Market on Saturdays. And we partner with a few local farmers to get our breads, cookies

and pastries into Community Supported A griculture boxes. The farmers market picks up the boxes on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s an awesome way to get product to people interested in supporting local farms.” By the time Harra Conticelli, pastry manager, clocks in at 3 a.m., the bread bakers are wrapping up, leaving the oven free for the pastries that proofed overnight, including croissants, kouign-amanns, King Eggs, cinnamon rolls, Danish and cruffins, along with cookies, brownies and muffins. “Our laminated items, specifically, can range from 400 on any given day to more than 1,000 on busy Saturdays,” Harra said. “We put out a lot of volume for such a tight team, but we have creative, enthusiastic folks who really love what they do.” The kitchen crew arrives around 5 a.m. to assemble grab-and-go meals, salads and sandwiches, and the rest of the pastry team is on-site by 6 a.m. to start the next day’s orders. When everything is finished, items are racked and loaded for delivery to the retail locations. “It’s critical for the bakers to be here early to make sure everything gets out and to our stores early so the displays can get set up before we open,” Harra said. “We want everything to be ready for our customers.” Once the bake is finished and products are out the door, the team begins prepping for the following day. For Harra, that means shifting into creative mode.

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Craft to Crumb Moxie Bread Co.

“It’s my time to work on seasonal menus and recipes I’m trying to troubleshoot,” she said. “When I work on seasonal ideas, I have to balance the creativity with the production. Everything has to translate to large-scale production. A lot of planning goes into it with the different stores, events and retail people we work with.” Baking at scale for Moxie means covering the needs of three storefronts. Over time, each location has carved out its own vibe, connected by fresh-baked bread, assorted sandwiches and graband-go meals; good coffee; and the opportunity to shop for locally made products from other independent businesses. The flagship bakery in Louisville remains as family-friendly as the day it opened. It’s a casual, cafelike gathering spot where the top sellers are lattes, club sandwiches and kouign-amanns. A large sandbox in the backyard keeps children entertained, giving parents a chance to relax and catch their breath. People bring their laptops to work or have a meeting, and friends meet to catch up. At the Moxie Feed + Seed in North Boulder, customers are all about the bread, with top-selling loaves rotating often. The Moxie Mercantile in Lyons, CO, is more of a tourist-driven destination and has a laid-back, cafe feel. “It’s right at the gateway to Estes Park, so in the summer, it’s

bustling,” Pippa said. “The area has a music-centric demographic — it hosts two music festivals in the summer — and we’ve become a sort of hub for people to hang out. We have house instruments and people just come and jam on Sundays. We sell a lot of hot drinks and paninis at the Lyons location.”

Moxie joins a prestigious and growing list of bakeries and bakingadjacent businesses that have achieved B Corp status. On a personal level, the recognition serves as validation of Moxie’s simple founding philosophy: build communities, support others, cherish the environment.

Moxie’s commitment to supporting local farms and businesses and working sustainably motivated the team to apply for B Corp Certification, a rigorous process that requires an enormous amount of time and internal resources. Achieving the designation verifies a company’s ongoing dedication to high standards of performance, transparency and accountability.

“We are plugged into our communities,” Pippa said. “That’s a happy, satisfying thing for us.”

“We started the process in January and found out at the end of October that we earned certification,” Laura said. “It was a really nice recognition for us.”

LISTEN NOW Pippa Clark talks about the unexpected findings the B Corp process revealed.

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Baked goods made with flour freshly milled from 100% heirloom grains fill Moxie Bread Co.’s bakery cases, drawing customers from all over Boulder County. Here are a few of the bakery’s most popular items.

Craft to Crumb Product Showcase | Moxie Bread Co.

All photos by Olivia Siddall | Avant Food Media

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Harra Conticelli bakes at the intersection of imagination and science. BY MARI RYDINGS

Despite arriving at Moxie Bread Co.’s commissary kitchen at 3 a.m. to kick off the day’s production, Harra Conticelli, the bakery’s pastry manager, is all smiles and sparkling eyes as she talks about her craft, the bakery and her latest creations. She exudes the telltale signs of someone who revels in the creative art and the structured science of working with dough.

“Baking is just in my blood,” Harra said. “I’ve always been drawn to the mix of art and science that is pastry. I love the style of baking at Moxie, using honest ingredients, being creative and working with a lot of passionate folks. We cultivate ideas together, so everybody has a little bit of an impact. Every day brings exciting new opportunities — challenges as well — but it’s a lot of fun. It’s the

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All photos by Olivia Siddall | Avant Food Media

Harra joined Moxie a little more than a year ago, bringing with her 25 years of industry experience that began when she worked at her family’s restaurant in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City. She attended Johnson & Wales University’s baking and pastry arts program, where she also studied food science. From there, she baked in restaurants and hotels and had opportunities to stretch her R&D muscles before landing at Moxie in Longmont, CO, where she started in lamination and worked her way up to the pastry manager position.

Craft to Crumb Baker Profile | Harra Conticelli right balance between structure and creativity here.” Harra has a particular flair for flavors. After the day’s bake is complete, she dedicates time to experimenting with seasonal flavors and one-of-a-kind filling combinations, an activity that satisfies her craving for creativity and keeps those R&D skills sharp. Her signature item is the kouignamann. She loves it because she can let her imagination run wild. “The kouign is fun because it’s got that classic base,” Harra said. “It’s a traditional pastry, but we put our new flavor spins on it to make it more fun and interesting. I love sharing different flavors with other folks. This fall, I made a chai cheesecake filling and a spiced cocoa-flavored filling.”

LISTEN NOW Harra Conticelli reveals her sources of inspiration for new product development.

Her biggest production challenge? The classic croissant. “Once I think I’ve got it perfectly dialed in, all of a sudden the season changes, the humidity level changes, and we’re back to troubleshooting,” she said. “There’s always an adjustment. If the flour is a little hardier, then the water absorption is slightly different. We recently had to change the type of yeast we were using to accommodate changes with our freezer. You have to go back to the science to figure out why the dough isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do.” Harra’s industry experience has taught her how to balance new product development with the needs of the business, and her

mind is constantly turning over ways to make new ideas work at Moxie. “You can have the most creative item, but if it’s not something that translates well to large production, it’s going to be a challenge,” she said. “I’m often asking, ‘How can we turn this really cool idea into something that is actually producible for what we do here?’” Harra draws inspiration from everywhere and everyone: her team, the seasons, nostalgia, trends. “There are so many different trends happening around the industry and, honestly, all over the world,”

she said. “I love being able to see what’s going on and how things are evolving. It gives me that energized vibe of, ‘How can I bring this to Moxie?’” That vibe, combined with a natural curiosity and the ability to take setbacks in stride, not only marks Harra as an authentic baker but also forms her distinct leadership philos ophy. “You have to stay curious, be adaptable and look at failure as a learning opportunity,” she advised. “You also have to be a good team member and value your teammates. That’s what keeps the oven going and the kitchen rolling.”

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Craft to Crumb IBIE Perspectives

CELEBRATING

All photos courtesy of IBIE

THE CRAFT Contests held on the Baking Expo floor fuel the industry. BY ANNIE HOLLON

There’s nothing like a little friendly competition between bakers to spur industry-wide camaraderie. At the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), held Sept. 13-17 in Las Vegas, there were plenty of experts of the craft putting their talents to the test in front of thousands of attendees. Through the return of the World Bread Awards USA and Pillsbury Creative Cake Decorating Competition, as well as the IBIE debut of the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie and Panettone World Cup — Americas Selection, bakers of all disciplines had the opportunity to showcase what they do best. A mainstay of the IBIE experience, the Pillsbury Creative Cake Decorating Competition held its 20th edition and crowned new champions Sabrina Sigouin from La Belle Patisserie and Sandra Major of Le Sucre au Four. Preparing to compete took weeks of planning and sketching, with the pair sending photos and videos to each other every day. They hopped on calls as often as they could but only had the chance to meet once in person before taking to the competition stage. “It was at least 50 hours [of preparation],” Sabrina said. “Every detail, every step, notes, lists, all the materials and who was going to make what on each step.”

For the duo, decorating four different cakes over the span of two days in front of crowds was a stressful, wild experience. “I’ve been to cake shows before, but this one was on a totally different scale,” Sandra said. “At one point, I looked up and there were hundreds — it felt like thousands — of people watching us from every angle. My brain went, ‘Don’t look up. Just breathe. Focus.’” Even while going head-to-head with 10 other expert cake decorators, the competition offered these bakers a space for connection and growth. “The judges were incredibly kind yet pushed us to do our best, and the other competitors were just lovely,” Sandra said. “There was so much talent and good energy in one place. I walked away with new friends and a heart full of inspiration.” The experience encouraged Sandra to create the Cake Show Montreal, to be held June 6-7, 2026. “Seeing what IBIE does for the industry made me want to bring that same spirit to Canada,” Sandra said. Sabrina shared that the win means a lot to her, hoping it will increase her business’ visibility.

Craft to Crumb IBIE Perspectives

In a different corner, the industry celebrated the craft of artisan bread with the World Bread Awards, a competition that debuted at the Baking Expo in 2022. This year’s competition drew in 63 entrants who submitted 170 breads for evaluation by a panel of established bakers and industry professionals. Guy Frenkel, founder and owner of Ceor Bread in Santa Fe Springs, CA, won the O verall Winner title for his Heir loom Sourdough, a recognition he also received in 2022.

more than when I was making them alone.” The celebration of craftsmanship also translates to the judge’s table. Brian Wood, head baker and CEO of Starter Bakery in Berkeley, CA, and two-time judge of the World Bread Awards, shared that offering critical feedback is crucial and supports bakers’ growth.

For him, it was a testament to his bakery’s quality, a reassurance that the business is trending on the right path.

“Competition is not just about winning; it’s also a process in which you’re doing a lot of learning,” he said. “Whenever I’m involved in something like that, I really focus on giving feedback that’s balanced toward the aspects I think are amazing as well as some of the aspects that could use some work.”

“Three years ago, there was a much smaller team, and now there’s a big group of people that stand behind this award,” Guy said. “That excites me a lot

In holding space for these bakers to compete and showcase what they do best, the Baking Expo provides a platform for the advancement of the baking industry.

MEET THE WINNERS The best baking skills take top honors. IBIE World Bread Awards USA Guy Frenkel | Ceor Bread (above, left, with head judge Stephen Hallam) Pillsbury Creative Cake Decorating Competition Sabrina Sigouin | La Belle Patisserie and Sandra Major | Le Sucre au Four Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie – Americas Selection First Place: Team Canada Runner-Up: Team USA

Panettone World Cup – Americas Selection Traditional Category: Jaime Martinez, USA, and Emmidio Isernia, Canada Chocolate Category: Vielma Ammary Coromoto, USA, and Flores Torres Wilson, Ecuador

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FLOUR COMES FROM?

WE DO. Know Your Flour. Know Your Farmer. Trace every bag back to the farms where it all begins.

REQUEST A SAMPLE WWW.FARMERDIRECTFOODS.COM

Craft to Crumb Business Insight | Hosting Workshops

TURNING SKILLS

INTO SALES

How to boost revenue and build community by offering baking classes. BY AMIE SMITH

As the saying goes, “Never put all your eggs in one basket.” Diversifying what you offer at your bakery is a surefire way to secure incoming revenue streams. By providing various products and services, you can create a consistent cash flow without relying on one segment of the business to support your operations. One of the most profitable — yet under utilized — ways to boost income is offering classes and workshops. It’s an investment that takes planning, but once you estab lish a process, you can rinse and repeat. Here are several things to consider when planning a bakery workshop program. Type of classes, content and pacing. When getting started, owners and operators need to lay out every piece of the puzzle and fill in any holes. Are the classes going to be hands-on? Demonstrations? Sweet? Savory? How many recipes per class? How many classes will be offered? How often?

For how long? Classes should include enough hands-on activity to occupy down time during proofing, baking and cooling. In our bagels class at AMIE Academie, students make the dough, shape, boil and bake it, and the class learns to make one flavored cream cheese spread to accom pany the finished product while the bagels are in the oven. Class format and prep. In our workshops, we demonstrate first while students observe so they can focus on the process. This means while the demo batch bakes, the instructor can guide students as they replicate the recipe. When their batches are ready for the oven, the demo batch becomes a time for tasting the results and explaining any nuances. Staying ahead keeps the classroom engaged, and creat ing a plan for each class that includes a prep checklist and task timeline keeps the instructor on track. Staffing. Don’t forget to allocate prep time to mise out the ingredients to reduce the risk of mismeasuring or wasting. Most

classes are held after business hours to use ovens without impeding production, but it’s essential to have an assistant who can operate ovens, step out for any necessary tools, and help with set up and clean up. Tuition. Fees should depend on class content, length, cost of ingredients and overhead. Do not forget to include a cancellation policy. If we get a cancellation far enough in advance, we can check our wait list to see if we can fill the seat. If we cannot fill a seat, we advise gifting or selling the seat to someone

else. We charge an extra fee for the room rental. Marketing. Set up a few templates for email campaigns and schedule them accordingly. Create one for promoting your class lineup, a last chance reminder to sign up, a day-of reminder for registrants, and a follow-up thank you and request for feedback. Create signage to hang around your shop and promote on social media. Add value to the class. Do students get to take products home? Are you providing professional hand-

outs? Do you offer samples of your products as a snack during class to market what you offer? We sell wine or mimosas with classes, separating them with two ticket types: alcohol or no alcohol.

All photos courtesy of AMIE Bakery

Create an experience. For our pasta class, the finished pasta is prepared, and students get to enjoy a buffet with garlic bread and salad. We open our bakery cases so we can sell products as well. Extra details like creating certificates and doing an informal graduation ceremony always end classes on a high note, and the students love it. If you’re able to offer aprons or other branded merchandise as part of the class fee, it’s a nice added touch and marketing dollars well spent.

Chef Amie Smith, owner of AMIE Bakery, is a pastry chef, writer and current president of the Retail Bakers of America. After more than 20 years as a writer and marketing consultant, Amie attended pastry school at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. In 2014, she opened AMIE Bakery and Academie in Osterville, MA. Contact Amie at amie@amiebakery.com.

Craft to Crumb Design Tech | Cookie Cakes

COOKIE,

MEET PIZZA BY MADDIE LAMBERT

COOKIE CAKES AND PIZZAS ARE STAPLE MENU ITEMS FOR CELEBRATIONS, BUT COMBINING THE TWO PRODUCTS OFFERS AN INNOVATIVE WAY TO ENHANCE ANY OCCASION.

CRAFT TO CRUMB PARTNERED

WITH LAMONICA CUNNINGHAM OF GOT DOUGH COOKIES AND MORE TO INSPIRE BAKERS TO SEIZE THE MOMENT FOR UNCONVENTIONAL CAKE DECORATION.

Materials needed: Buttercream icing, 10-inch spring form pan, pizza cutter, icing spatula, piping tips

01.

03.

Darken the light tan buttercream with more food coloring and trace the cookie’s edges to deepen the pizza crust look.

04.

Using a small piping tip, add swirls of white buttercream to resemble shredded mozzarella cheese.

05.

Finish the cookie pizza by adding dollops of red, green, black and gray icing to resemble pepperoni, peppers, olives and mushrooms.

06.

Cut the cookie cake into eight pieces with a pizza cutter.

All photos courtesy of Lamonica Cunningham

02.

Pipe two rows of light tan buttercream around the edges to form the pizza crust.

Pipe red buttercream onto a cooled cookie cake and spread with a spatula. Pro tip: For a more sauce-like texture, m icrowave the buttercream for 15 seconds.

Your bar. We’ll help you make it.

At Reiser we have the experts, the experience and the equipment to help you produce the bar you envision – precisely portioned and efficiently produced. Come run your product with us at the Reiser Customer Center.

Watch video 2024

www.reiser.com Reiser • Canton, MA • (781) 821-1290 Reiser Canada • Burlington, ON • (905) 631-6611 Reiser UK • Milton Keynes, Bucks • (01908) 585300

Craft to Crumb To Build A Bakery

All photos courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee Photography

EMERALD CITY BAGELS

NO TASTE LIKE HOME BY ANNIE HOLLON

Nostalgia is a sticky thing, clinging to memories and taste buds alike. One bite of a familiar flavor can send a person back to a different time. Down in Atlanta, mother-daughter duo Deanna and Jackie Halcrow offer Southerners a taste of what they grew up on through Emerald City Bagels. Named in honor of The Wizard of Oz, a favorite of Deanna’s, the bagel shop has blossomed from a pop-up to a two-storefront business, earning regional and national acclaim.

SPONSORED BY KING ARTHUR BAKING CO. To Build a Bakery features growth stories from bakeries of all scales. Explore the series at crafttocrumb.com/TBAB.

Craft to Crumb To Build A Bakery

“We never set out a specific time goal for ourselves ….. We started like, ‘Let’s see if anyone cares,’ and three years in, we were ready to actually pursue it.” Jackie Halcrow | co-founder | Emerald City Bagels

The start of the road This was not something the Halcrows imagined when Deanna made her first batch of bagels in the early 2010s. At first, it was a way to recreate a nostalgic favorite, a tribute to both her and Jackie’s New York upbringings. In seeking a taste of home, the door opened for the duo to try their hand at something new. Thus, the brick road for Emerald City was paved. “We were both looking for something else to do, and we were both ready to jump into the bagel game very slowly,” Deanna said. Backed by Deanna’s experience as the owner of a local catering business and Jackie’s pastry school education, the pair had the technical know-how necessary to tackle a new opportunity like bagel making.

At the start, it was just the two women hand-rolling bagels in Deanna’s home and selling them at various farmers markets and in street-corner pop-up stands. Emerald City’s traditional 4-ounce bagel, made with classic ingredients, such as King Arthur Baking Co.’s Sir Lancelot Hi-Gluten Flour, and a 24-hour cold fermentation, stood out among customers who didn’t have traditional, New Yorkstyle bagels available nearby. The Halcrows leaned into personal connections as well as cold calls to local coffee shops to find new distribution channels. They quickly outgrew the licensed home-baking operation, signing an agreement to work in a newly built shared kitchen in 2014, allowing the pair to enter the wholesale market. Getting into this space was necessary to maintain the caliber of bagel Emerald City was gaining a reputation for.

WANT MORE ON EMERALD CITY BAGELS?

There’s more to the story at crafttocrumb.com.

While rolling out bagels by hand at the bench in that shared kitchen, the mother-daughter team dared to dream big, knowing that a b rick-and-mortar operation was the endgame. “We never set out a specific time goal for ourselves,” Jackie said. “We didn’t say, ‘We’re going to get into a brick-and-mortar in a year.’ We started like, ‘Let’s see if anyone cares,’ and three years in, we were ready to actually pursue it.”

First home sweet home They signed a lease in East Atlanta for the first store in 2016, an ideal spot for Emerald City due to its proximity to current wholesale customers. Getting to that point, however, wasn’t easy. “Finding a commercial space where the agent will actually call you back was really hard; I didn’t expect that to be the hard part,” Jackie said. The Halcrows self-financed the first location, using money from personal investments. One major roadblock they encountered was an improper in-ground grease trap. The oversight caused an 18-month delay. Once resolved, the build-out only took six months, and included the installation of a new 45-gallon gas kettle, 4-tray rotating rack oven, two IRIS spiral

mixers, and a dough divider and former, all from Empire Bakery Equipment.

providing faster service, adding a grab-and-go experience made sense.

In 2018, two years after signing the lease, Jackie and Deanna celebrated the grand opening of Emerald City Bagels.

While the automat initially offered hot sandwiches, technical troubles caused Emerald City to pivot the concept, and it will soon relaunch with cold items to better serve customers and ease operations.

Growing up and out Business boomed for Emerald City, and it quickly became a community staple. Four years after opening, Deanna and Jackie considered their next move: Should they buy a building to bolster the wholesale business or open a second retail store? While the former may have been easier, the latter offered more residual income.

Baked for good With two storefronts, Jackie and Deanna are satisfied with the state of Emerald City. While they currently have no intention of expanding locations, the pair are considering a return to their wholesale roots via e-commerce. In reflection, Jackie would take a minimalist approach to building the bagel shop’s menu.

“We thought if we opened up two neighborhoods over, about two miles away, then maybe it would take off some heat and customers would have a better experience instead of having to wait 20 minutes to get a bagel sandwich,” Jackie shared.

“If I had to do it over again, I would simplify everything,” she said. “But it’s hard to commit to simplifying when I know that people like the choice to build their own bagel sandwich and have their own special thing.”

Now more established in Atlanta, it was easier to lock in the second store — located on the Beltline, a pedestrian walking path — which opened July 2024.

Another hard-earned lesson for the Halcrows is knowing when to step back from the internet and not taking every review or comment to heart.

Given the foot traffic near the new location, Jackie was inspired to integrate an element she’d long been interested in: an automat. Vending machines are popular in Europe, and, with an interest in

Over the years of building Emerald City Bagels, Jackie and Deanna have struck a balance, working together on an equal playing field and b ringing a taste of the Big Apple to the Big Peach.

Troubleshooting

Innovation An award-winning podcast from Commercial Baking.

Season 17 Spiros Assimacopoulos, president and CEO of The Good Bread Co., talks to Joanie Spencer, editor-in-chief of Commercial Baking, about scaling up an artisan bakery. Tune in on Apple or Spotify, or scan the QR code to listen now.